Checkout counters are widely used in certain types of retail establishments, such as supermarkets and in stores of certain mass merchandisers. A typical checkout counter includes a cash register and a conveyor for merchandise to be purchased. Articles to be purchased are loaded, usually by customers, on the conveyor and transported from a position remote from the cash register toward a cash register operator. While an order of a first customer is being processed by the cash register operator, another order is loaded on the conveyor at a position remote from the operator and cash register. Frequently, more than one order is loaded onto the conveyor by two or more customers, while the first customer is being "checked out." To distinguish the orders of different customers, an order divider bar, located in proximity to the conveyor, is inserted by the customers between the items forming the different orders. The order divider bar is typically a piece of molded hard plastic and usually carries the name of the retail establishment. After a customer has been checked out, the divider bar is returned, usually by the checkout counter operator, to a stack adjacent the conveyor.